As the increased COVID-19 cases continue to overwhelm Liberians, pondering over the reasons, the Liberian leader, President George Manneh Weah has given his an executive order to all Liberians and foreign residents as of Monday, April 27, 2020, to wear face masks, hand gloves, and must obligatory observe the social distancing aimed at aborting the growing cases of the Coronavirus in Liberia.

The Liberian chief executive gave the order last Friday when he extended the ‘Stay Home’ order, urging all Liberians and foreign residents to be robust in honoring all the Ministry of Health and the National Public Health Institute of Liberia health protocols in order contain the spread of the Coronavirus disease.

According to a statement from the Executive Mansion, the government deems the extension necessary in order to sustain the fight against the disease in the country.

Earlier this month, the release recalled, President Weah announced a State of Emergency to be observed throughout the country. During this period, the joint security command and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia were ordered to enforce the different measures that were pronounced.

Amongst these measures were orders to:

1) Quarantine the 15 counties;

2) Ensure everyone in Montserrado, Margibi, Nimba and Grand Kru stay at home for two weeks – with exceptions granted to designated essential persons and businesses;

3) Require all to be indoors by 3pm; and

4) A directive to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to engage marketers in order to make “satisfactory arrangements” for the operations of markets during this period.

However, on the advice of health authorities and in light of the unresolved crisis, the release said, the government is extending the stay-at-home order to ALL 15 counties in the country.

“Also, healthcare workers and other service providers are mandated to also wear hygienic gloves in addition to the face masks when interacting with the public. Any non-compliance to these measures, as have been observed in the past, could lead to arrest by the security forces,” the release warns. “The government will work to ensure face masks are made available for public use.

“The threat from COVID-19 is existential; everyone is therefore urged to do their part in every way possible to defeat this unseen enemy. One responsible way to do that is staying at home and following the regulations of the government,” the release concluded.

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Joel Cholo Brooks is a Liberian journalist who previously worked for several international news outlets including the BBC African Service. He is the CEO of the Global News Network which publishes two local weeklies, The Star and The GNN-Liberia Newspapers. He is a member of the Press Union Of Liberia (PUL) since 1986, and several other international organizations of journalists, and is currently contributing to the South Africa Broadcasting Corporation as Liberia Correspondent.